Microarchitecture for advanced polymeric materials

诊断是医疗保健系统的重要组成部分。及早准确地检测疾病指标对于减少传播、预防和成功治疗至关重要。改进诊断的方法之一是更快和更好的测试，这可以支持大量人口筛查并提高医疗响应能力。对同一样本中的同时(并行)多路免疫分析的需求越来越大，以便能够同时检测多种疾病。在他之前工作的基础上，Dae Kun Hwang博士将利用功能化智能聚合物材料开发和设计创新的生物医学平台：i)用于快速多重免疫分析的水凝胶膜微流控芯片，以及ii)用于细胞捕获和单细胞分析的筛选微孔微流控芯片。Hwang发明了一种基于水凝胶膜的快速和同时多重免疫分析平台，将同时检测和定量同一样本中的各种生物标记物。微流体还需要更小的样品，更便宜，更容易自动化。这些优势将大大减少检测和检测时间。黄博士最近开发了一种史无前例的微流控制造方法，这将使这种测试成为可能。微孔已经成为包括单细胞分析在内的广泛应用的潜在候选者，因为它们可以捕获用于研究的明确数量的细胞。在微孔中捕获的单个细胞可以被研究环境反应，导致生化功能和细胞机制的发现，并可以形成药物发现、诊断、癌症研究和再生医学的基础。一定数量的癌细胞被困在微孔中，可以作为药物测试的有效模型。Hwang已经开发了一种通过横流有效捕获细胞的设备，这种设备不仅可以通过细胞数量而且可以很好地控制细胞形状，这在其他微孔设备中是看不到的。这对于循环肿瘤细胞(CTC)的检测也是有效的。黄博士正在开发可扩展的制造，以使CTC检测平台既低成本又高产量。他还在设计一个微孔平台，以促进统一大小的肿瘤球体捕获，这在药物测试中是必不可少的。黄博士的创新和多功能生物医学工具将使他能够大规模提高医疗保健和福祉的质量。

Diagnostics are an essential part of the healthcare system. Early and accurate detection of disease indicators is vital for reducing transmission, prophylaxis, and successful treatments. One of the ways to improve diagnostics is faster and improved testing, which can support large population screening and improve healthcare responsiveness. There is a growing demand for simultaneous (parallel) multiplexed immunoassays in the same sample, to allow testing for multiple diseases concurrently. Building upon his previous work, Dr. Dae Kun Hwang will develop and design innovative biomedical platforms utilizing functionalized smart polymeric materials: i) a hydrogel-membrane microfluidic chip for a highly rapid multiplex immunoassay, and ii) a sieved-microwell microfluidic chip for cell capture and single cell analysis.Dr. Hwang's invention of a highly rapid and simultaneous multiplexed immunoassay platform, based on a hydrogel membrane, will detect and quantify various biomarkers concurrently in the same sample. Microfluidics also require smaller samples, are cheaper, and easier to automate. These advantages will greatly reduce testing and detection time. Dr. Hwang has recently developed an unprecedented microfluidic fabrication method which will enable this testing.Microwells have emerged as a potential candidate for a wide range of applications, including single cell analysis, as they can capture a well-defined number of cells for study. Individual cells captured in microwells can be investigated for environmental responses, leading to discoveries of biochemical functions and cellular mechanisms, and can form the basis for drug discovery, diagnostics, cancer research, and regenerative medicine. A well-defined number of cancer cells trapped in microwells can be used as an effective model for drug testing.Dr. Hwang has developed a device for efficient cell trapping by crossflow, which provides great control not only by the number of cells but also shape, unseen in other microwell devices. This can be also effective for circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection. Dr. Hwang is developing scalable fabrication to make the CTC detection platform both low-cost and high throughput. He is also designing a microwell platform to facilitate uniformly-sized tumour spheroid capture, which is essential in drug testing. Dr. Hwang's innovative and versatile biomedical tools will allow him to improve the quality of healthcare and wellbeing on a large scale.